Amber weather warning for snow

Deborah Punshon

Severe weather warnings have been issued ahead of snow which could affect large parts of Scotland tonight and tomorrow morning.

The Met Office say the worst of the conditions are expected in the South East and the Shetland Islands which are covered by amber ‘Be Prepared’ warnings.

A wider yellow ‘Be Aware’ warning is in place for much of South and Central Scotland. And, with weather expected to worsen around this evening’s peak period and with snow forecast overnight, travel disruption is more likely in some areas during the morning rush hour.

Transport Scotland is working with partner organisations, including Police Scotland and the transport operators, to try to mitigate the effects of the wintry conditions.

Transport Minister Derek Mackay said: “A wide range of agencies and organisations have their response plans in action to try to mitigate the effects of this latest set of wintry conditions but it is likely that there will be disruption to the transport network.

“The weather is forecast to deteriorate this evening and these conditions will last into tomorrow morning across the peak period when people are travelling to work.

“We have more gritters available across the trunk roads this year than ever before and these will be out with patrols across the day and night. There is plenty of salt available and the winter control rooms are monitoring conditions 24/7 to ensure that the fleet is treating and patrolling where required.

“Drivers should listen to Police advice, check their route is available and leave some extra time for their journeys.

“Live information on conditions is available on the Traffic Scotland Twitter feed, smartphone App, internet radio and website.

“The advice is the same for those intending to use public transport.

“Passengers should check their travel operator’s website before they leave and be mindful that conditions could be difficult in some areas.”